The plan was a race to Hawaii, and perhaps blue water ports beyond it, for a couple sailing mostly on their own. That called for a boat an average sailor could handle nearly single-handed in the open ocean.

Valiant went to the top of the list. Perry’s Valiant 40 created the “performance cruiser” category, carried solo sailors around the world, and entered the American Sailboat Hall of Fame in 1997. Rich Worstell bought the company in 1984 and moved it to Lake Texoma, Texas. From 1992 he built the Valiant 42: the same proven hull with a bowsprit, a taller two-spreader rig and more ballast. His crew built each boat by hand and spent years folding in what blue water owners told them.

In 2001 the owner read a sailing magazine interview in which Perry said that about the only way to improve the Valiant would be a carbon fiber mast. Carbon is lighter than aluminum, and weight saved aloft makes a boat stiffer. Newer designs were by then carrying more sail and claiming more speed. So the owner asked a question: what if the mast were carbon and taller, giving more sail with no loss of stability? He called Perry. Perry was interested.

Perry drew a new sail plan. The carbon fiber mast stands 3½ feet taller than standard, and sail area rises to 934 sq. ft., about 10% more than a stock Valiant 42. Worstell wanted every Valiant bulletproof, so he insisted on a heavier, longer stainless bowsprit to carry the bigger rig. That makes Au Contraire 43' 6" overall on the same waterline. Her sail area/displacement ratio is 17.7, against 16.06 for the standard boat.

Valiant was a semi-custom builder: buyers chose the interior and electronics, while the hull, keel and rig were standard. Au Contraire is the exception. Perry told the owner at the time that only one other Valiant carried a carbon fiber spar, a boat built for Art Linkletter.

She was built in 2002–2003, with the owner making several trips to the north Texas factory. Valiant stopped building in 2011, the year Rich Worstell died, so there will not be another. Parts and service are still available from Cedar Mills Marina, at the old factory site.

Then life intervened, and the Hawaii race never happened. Au Contraire has spent her years since 2003 day sailing on San Francisco Bay, with a few trips outside the Golden Gate. She has had one owner, has never been chartered, and has about 65 hours on her engine. The boat Perry redrew for blue water has yet to cross any. Someone can take her on their own astonishing journey.

Both of Perry’s sail plans, the original Valiant 42 and the custom plan for Au Contraire, go with the boat.